January, 2021

• 11 January

  Turkey draws road map with Egypt, but will Cairo follow it?

  Turkey is once again hinting at openness for dialogue with Egypt, but real progress remains elusive. Once again, Turkey is reaching out to Egypt for political rapprochement. Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters Dec. 30 that Turkey and Egypt are working on shaping a road map for …

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• 11 January

  Intel: Biden to pick Brett McGurk for top White House Middle East role

  Picking the former defeat-ISIS envoy to oversee US Middle East policy sends a strong signal to Turkey. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to choose Brett McGurk, the former envoy to the US-led international coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS), for a White House role managing US policy in the …

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• 11 January

  Israel side-eyes Turkish offers of friendship as Ankara shelters Hamas

  Turkey’s overtures to Israel have been greeted with bemusement and contempt while hundreds of Hamas operatives remain in Istanbul. Turkey’s recent flurry of overtures to Israel has been ill-conceived, ill-communicated and ill-received by the Jewish State. Be it the now-scotched nomination of an overtly anti-Israeli pundit with close ties to …

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• 11 January

  Turkey, Iran jockey to reap dividends of Qatari ‘victory’

  Fearing a secret agreement that may include reducing their presence in Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood have launched a smear campaign against boycotting countries.

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• 11 January

  Iran uses domestically made drones in large military exercise

  Iran’s military training and exercises regularly focus on potential conflict with the United States. Iran’s military conducted a major drone drill on Tuesday, using unmanned aircraft produced in Iran.

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• 11 January

  Israel, Greece advance major defense deal

  Israel and Greece will soon sign a $1.68 billion agreement for the purchase of Israeli jets and the opening of a military flight school operated by an Israeli company. Israel’s Defense Ministry announced this morning that it is set to sign a $1.68 billion security agreement with Greece effective for …

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• 11 January

  IS cells escalate attacks on civilians, regime soldiers in eastern Syria

  Despite the elimination of the Islamic State from its last official territory in Syria in March 2019, IS cells that have been holed up in desert areas in eastern and central Syria remain active and terrorize civilians and soldiers alike.

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• 11 January

  Will Egypt agree to sell Nile waters?

  Wall Street has started trading in water futures contracts, just like gold, oil and basic commodities, coinciding with the stalled negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which raises the question of whether Egypt will agree to sell the Nile waters.

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• 11 January

  Ukraine deports suspected Gulen supporters to Turkey

  Turkey’s Interior Ministry announced the deportation Wednesday of two suspects from Ukraine over alleged ties to a terror group in what human rights advocates condemn as illegal renditions without due process. Ukraine deported two individuals to Ankara over alleged ties to a terror group, Turkey’s Interior Ministry announced in a …

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• 11 January

  How a Huge New Gas Pipeline Boosts Russia’s Strategic Entente With China

  Natural gas started flowing from Russia to China for the first time on Dec. 2 when Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, officially launched the initial phase of a huge new pipeline known as the Power of Siberia.

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